1. Take first 5 ingredients and sauté or wok for about 5 minutes on medium-high heat. This will create a nice glaze on the mushrooms but not turn them into mush.

2. Take the next 4 ingredients and toss together to make the salad.

3. Take the dressing ingredients into a glass jar and shake to mix.

4. Pour dressing over salad mixture, then top with the warm mushrooms. Garnish with some sesame seeds and cilantro. Eat immediately. The warm mushrooms will start to melt the avocado and it’s so yummy!!!

1. In medium saute pan, over medium heat saute onions and garlic in 1 tbsp of olive oil until clear. Add the remaining oil and the lentils to the pan and saute these to slightly toast them.

****this is typically how you start a risotto but you should not try to toast the jasmine rice in this recipe. It is too thin and delicate of a grain, it will burn.

2. Add wine to the saute pan while hot and use this to “deglaze” the pan, ok this is the fancy pants term that really means to add fluid into the pan to scrap the goodies from the bottom of the pan, haha.

3. Add everything from saute pan, and all remaining ingredients (except the peas) into the crock pot. You have a few options to cook this and honestly it’s impossible to mess up a crock pot recipe. You can cook it on high for 2 hours, or low for 4-6 hours. Just make sure the lentils and the rice aren’t crunchy. The more you let those Indian spices cook, they better they are!

4. About 30 minutes before you want to serve the lentils, throw in the peas (trust me…don’t put them in early..they turn to brown mush).

I like to garnish this with fresh tomatoes, but I think I just put tomatoes on everything.

LENTIL LESSON:

So I used yellow lentils for this….but look at the whole rainbow of the variety of lentils…test them all!!!

Procedures

Combine olive oil, garlic, parsley, pepper flakes, and salt in a small bowl and stir with a spoon. Spread mixture evenly over one side of each slice of bread. Toast bread in a 450°F toaster oven or regular oven until golden brown, about 3 minutes.

Directions

Place beans in a large bowl and add 1 gallon water. Stir in two tablespoons kosher salt. Set aside at room temperature and let rest overnight. The next day, drain and rinse beans. Transfer to a large Dutch oven. Add bay leaf, split onion, and 3 quarts water. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce to a bare simmer, cover, and cook until beans are completely tender and skins are loose, 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Discard onion and bay leaves. Drain beans, reserving liquid. (See note above for pressure cooker or canned bean variations).

Heat vegetable oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add onions, garlic, and jalapeño (if using) and cook, stirring frequently, until softened but not browned, about 3 minutes. Add beans and chipotle (if using) and cook, folding with a wooden spoon until homogenous. Add 2 cups of reserved bean liquid. Mash beans with a potato masher until desired consistency is reached, adding extra cooking liquid as necessary to loosen to desired texture. If smoother texture is required, use a hand blender or a food processor to process beans to desired texture. Season with salt to taste. Serve. Uneaten beans can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

3. Puree soup in batches in a blender or using an immersion blender (be careful when blending hot liquids). Return soup to pot and reheat if necessary. Otherwise stir in lime juice and serve immediately. Sprinkle a few cilantro leaves and enjoy. Serves 4